Rise From Eight Hundred

Chapter 1480 The hard nut is coming

General Xue ran to Leiyang on his own, but he was worried that the 4th Army would be difficult to support independently. Originally, Chief of Staff Zhao Zili was the best candidate to stay and become the supreme commander of the city defense, but he was sent to Hengyang again. After much deliberation, Xu Benchang, the highly trusted chief of the operations department, was left in Tanzhou.

The military order stated that the Tanzhou Defense War was unified and coordinated, but the key point was that Xu Benchang himself was just a major general, and the 4th Army was a military-level unit. From the corps commander to the three division commanders were all lieutenant generals, and the major general commanded the lieutenant general, then Isn't it funny!

To put it bluntly, even at this time, General Xue was still extremely conceited, believing that as long as he issued military orders, the generals of the 4th Army would carry them out unconditionally.

But Commander Xue followed suit, which doesn't mean that he can command the powerful generals of the 4th Army by just sending someone at will.

Xu Benchang is actually a cautious person. After more than 20 years in the army, the chief military officer has only been a brigade commander at most, let alone the experience of commanding a large corps in combat.

But this person was also an extremely smart person. Seeing that he was being left as a "pot for putting out the fire," he also knew that he lacked this ability, so he could only ask for help from Lieutenant General Chief of Staff Zhao Zili who had already gone to Hengyang.

Zhao Zili called him back: The main force of the entire army should be deployed in Yuelu Mountain, which is easy to defend and difficult to attack, instead of in Tanzhou City!

On May 19, the Japanese army officially began to attack Tanzhou.

The Japanese army learned from the lessons of the previous three direct attacks on Tanzhou. Instead of attacking Tanzhou directly, they adopted a large roundabout tactic and attacked Tanzhou City and Yuelu Mountain from the east and west directions.

That night, the 58th Division attacked Changsha City. The 34th Division and part of the 68th Division, which had received mountain combat training, detoured around the side of Yuelu Mountain to attack. They used ground, artillery, and air coordination tactics in an attempt to destroy Yuelu Mountain first. artillery positions.

The artillery position of the 3rd Brigade of the 9th Theater and the artillery battalion of the 4th Army deployed more than 50 artillery fixed positions in Yuelu Mountain and the defensive positions of the 90th Division. They are all aimed at supporting the security of Tanzhou flank in the east. Thinking that the Japanese army launched an attack from the side this time, they could only hurriedly turn their guns to meet the enemy.

After receiving the news, Xu Benchang immediately called Zhang Deneng, commander of the 4th Army, and told him that if Yuelu Mountain was lost, Tanzhou would definitely be unable to defend it. If Yuelu Mountain was not lost, Yuelu Mountain's artillery fire could be used to control the entire Tanzhou. Tanzhou cannot be lost in the Zhoucheng District, so the top priority is to secure Yuelu Mountain first, and ask the 4th Army to immediately transfer another division to Yuelu Mountain.

There is nothing wrong with this tactic, but the key is that when Lieutenant General Zhang Deneng heard it, he thought that the chief of the operations department was giving him orders. Wasn't he using the commander's military orders to slap his nose in the face?

He directly made an excuse and said that this was the military deployment made by Commander Xue before he left. As a military commander, he could not change it and had to ask Commander Xue for instructions.

Xu Benchang had no choice but to call General Xue who was already far away in Leiyang, but he was criticized by General Xue.

At this time, whoever admits that what Zhao Zili said was right is a complete denial of everything he said before. How can the conceited General Xue endure it?

So, on this chaotic night, the Japanese army was vigorously attacking, the Chinese officers and soldiers were desperately defending, and the generals in Tanzhou City were still worrying about how to deploy the defense.

This is already a fatal mistake!

On the morning of the 20th, the Lieutenant General of the 4th Army, who had been thinking hard all night, finally decided to adjust the deployment according to what Xu Benchang said in view of the current Japanese offensive, and ordered the 59th Division and the 102nd Division each to leave one regiment to guard Tanzhou, and the rest They all crossed the Xiangjiang River and moved closer to Yuelu Mountain.

But at this time, he once again committed a military taboo. The 4th Army had no plan to cross the river before, and the military headquarters did not have enough ships. Whether to cross the river and how to cross the river, there was a lack of arrangements from beginning to end. During the process of crossing the river, General Xue He called to ask about the deployment situation of his direct subordinates, and his words were quite dissatisfied. This caused Zhang Deneng to start to hesitate again and be in both directions, causing the cross-river operation on the 20th to fall into extreme chaos from the beginning.

The Xiangjiang River is more than 1,000 meters wide. Crossing the Xiangjiang River from Tanzhou City to Yuelu Mountain must be completed in two sections using Shuiluzhou in the middle of the Xiangjiang River as a transfer station. Each section of the river crossing takes about half an hour by small steamer. Take a wooden boat It will take an hour.

However, at this time, the Fourth Army had only one small steamer from Tanzhou to Shuiluzhou, and only a dozen wooden boats from Shuiluzhou to the west bank. The number of troops who received orders to prepare to cross the river was as high as 17,000.

Due to insufficient preparation and poor coordination, the 4th Army began to cross the river on the evening of the 20th, and it was not completely crossed until the morning of the 21st. Tens of thousands of people lined up on the riverside. After dawn, the troops crossing the river were constantly being attacked by the other side. The Japanese army used machine gun fire and Japanese artillery bombardment in the Yuelu Mountain area. The troops gradually began to waver, and soon the escape of individual soldiers gradually progressed to the collapse of the entire army.

But these are not the most fatal. The most fatal thing is that the officers and soldiers of the 4th Army's crossing force suddenly couldn't find their commander.

It turned out that after the commander of the 4th Army crossed the river with his guards that night, the army lieutenant general, who was extremely exhausted mentally and physically, fell asleep. Before sleeping, he ordered no one to disturb him. He had no idea. Something serious happened outside that night.

When this man woke up, it was already dark, and the situation on the Xiangjiang River was already out of control. The army of tens of thousands of people collapsed across the board. Many officers and soldiers stopped crossing the river and fled south in a panic.

It is said that the army was defeated like a mountain. At this time, let alone the lieutenant general, even General Xue was here and could not stop this avalanche-like defeat. The lieutenant general could only follow behind the defeated troops. Flee in the direction of Xiangtan.

The Japanese army hadn't even fought much yet. Only one division and two regiments of an elite main infantry army were still defending in Tanzhou. The other six infantry regiments just disappeared.

Do you think Isamu Yokoyama was shocked by China’s extremely stupid operations?

In the end, the artillery positions on Yuelu Mountain were bombarded by Japanese aircraft and artillery. Although the four 150-mm howitzers with the most powerful fire were not directly exposed, other artillery positions were seriously damaged, and the artillerymen suffered heavy losses in combat effectiveness. The morale of the 90th Division, which had been unable to receive support for a long time, was low. It did not hold out until the 2nd when the position fell. Its division commander led the division headquarters and guard battalion to flee the battlefield.

The Yuelu Mountain position was declared lost on the 23rd. Except for a few troops of the two infantry regiments in Tanzhou City who continued to hold on, the rest also began to break out of the city.

On May 24, the remaining troops of the 4th Army suffered all casualties and Tanzhou City fell!

In the Fourth Battle of Tanzhou, it took less than half a month from the time the Japanese army launched its offensive mode on May 8 to the fall of the entire city of Tanzhou. Its collapse speed was comparable to that of the first battle zone in Henan Province.

After receiving the message that Tanzhou City had completely fallen, General Xue stood blankly in his temporary headquarters in Leiyang for a full hour.

The former pride and arrogance were replaced by bitterness!

What was predicted by the young chief of staff who was sent to Hengyang actually came true!

Tanzhou fell so quickly that the whole country was in an uproar! That one was also extremely embarrassed!

This kind of pressure does not only come from domestic military and civilian public opinion, but also from the Allied forces' frequent successes in the European battlefield and the Pacific battlefield. However, in the Chinese theater of the East Asian continent, they are facing an unprecedented severe test since the all-out war of resistance.

Tanzhou is an important place in Hunan Province. If Tanzhou is lost, all northern Hunan will be lost. If Hunan Province is fully occupied by the Japanese army, it will mean that southern China and the Central China Plain will be severely cut off, which will be a great disadvantage to the national war situation.

On the day Yuelu Mountain fell on the 23rd, that man held an emergency military meeting in the mountain city to reselect the location of the decisive battle. The senior generals participating in the meeting unanimously believed that with the amount of troops invested by the Japanese army at this time, it was not just about occupying Tanzhou. , they will definitely attack Hengyang, the most important city in southern Hunan.

General Bai, known as Xiao Zhuge, the deputy chief of staff who was commanding operations abroad, specifically called the Ministry of Military Affairs: "In order to have enough time to organize the Liugui battle, I hope there will be a defender to hold off the Japanese army in Hengyang!"

The military meeting that day finally determined the tactical plan of 'blocking the middle and sandwiching both sides', and the center of this plan is Hengyang!

Hengyang, the city that Tang Dao and Fang Xianjue kept mentioning a month ago, just appeared in the eyes of senior officials from China and Japan.

Hengyang, what kind of magic power does this city that has been established as a county since the Western Han Dynasty have, makes the top leaders of both China and Japan regard it as a battleground, even more important than the provincial capital Tanzhou.

All this is determined by Hengyang's current geographical location and the current war situation in China!

In the early years of the Republic of China, Hengyang had a population of less than 60,000. The roads were too narrow to pass cars, and there were no lights in the city. It was pitch black at night, and it was just a small county town with dirt.

But in the 1930s, China's booming railway and highway transportation construction boom completely changed the fate of this small town in southern Hunan.

By 1939, after the opening of the Hengbao Highway from Hengyang to Baoqing, it could lead directly to Guizhou Province! At this point, Hengyang has become an important hub of the highway network in the four provinces of Hunan, Jiangxi, Guangdong and Guangxi.

After the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, major ports along China's coast fell one after another. Large quantities of materials could only be imported from Hong Kong, loaded on trucks in Yangcheng, and transported to Hengyang. From Hengyang, they were transported across the country via railways and highways.

In 1938, Yangcheng fell, and supplies could only depart from small docks in Guangdong, Fujian, and Zhejiang provinces, and then be collected along transportation lines as thin as a spider web to distribution centers such as Shaoguan in Guangdong Province and Qianshan in Gan Province. In the end, all roads led to Hengyang. , all transported to the whole country through Hengyang.

There is also a developed water system in Hunan Province. As long as it passes from Hengyang through the Xiangjiang River, through Xiangtan, through Tanzhou, into Dongting, then into western Hubei, and finally by road to mountain cities, materials can be transferred to the southwest rear area.

Because of the war, people fleeing from Jiangnan, North China, and Central China mostly passed through Tanzhou and arrived at Hengyang before choosing to go to Guizhou Province or Dian Province. Many people simply stopped their southward retreat in the small city of Hengyang. Come down.

In just four years, Hengyang's population surged from 60,000 to 300,000. By 1942, the government simply established Hengyang as a provincial HY city, with Zhao Junmai, a Hengyang native who had studied in the United States, as the mayor of HY. Zhao Junmai was indeed a master of administration. In two years, he developed Hengyang into an extremely important financial and manufacturing center in China with 6,000 businesses and more than 130 factories. In the first quarter of 1944, Hengyang's industrial and commercial tax revenue ranked first It ranks second in the country, second only to Peidu Mountain City.

Yokoyama Isamu and Shimanuki Takeshi regard the city of Hengyang as an extremely important node on the important passage for the Japanese army to march into the southwest and finally connect the Chinese battlefield and the Southeast Asian battlefield. They hope to have a decisive battle with the main force of China at this node, and for The news of victory brought to Japan's demoralized soldiers and civilians also paved the way for the subsequent attack on southwest China.

In the eyes of the Chinese generals, Hengyang is the waistline of South and Central China, and the gateway to the southwest. When entering, it can control Guangxi Province, contain Yunnan and Burma, and spy on mountain cities; when retreating, it can contain Central China and guard South China. Its position is extremely important.

At the same time, China's Fourth, Sixth, Seventh, and Ninety-fourth War Zones are surrounding it. Only Hengyang has the advantage of quickly concentrating the forces of all war zones in the south of the Yangtze River in one place.

On the 26th, Lieutenant General Yokoyama Isamu, the commander of the Japanese 11th Army who entered Tanzhou City in a tank, said energetically to the reporters accompanying the army in the courtyard of General Xue’s headquarters in Yuelu Mountain: “Although Hengyang is important, But conquering Hengyang is not difficult!”

"Your Excellency Yokoyama Isamu, how long will it take to conquer Hengyang?" Japanese military reporters must have recognized Yokoyama Isamu's joy, and took the initiative to help him increase the topic.

"Give me the Empire Warriors of the 11th Army 10 days and a week to march. If we want to defeat the enemy, 3 days will be enough!" Isamu Yokoyama thought for a moment and held out three fingers!

The photo of His Excellency Lieutenant General Isamu Yokoyama making the 'OK' gesture at the headquarters of China's 9th Theater Command made the front page of Japan's Asahi Shimbun a week later.

The entire Japanese people are excited about it!

Since the defeat at the Battle of Midway, the Imperial Navy has been retreating steadily on the Pacific battlefield. American bombers have even threatened the main island. A sad mood of imminent defeat has begun to spread among the Japanese people.

The Imperial Army's victory on the Chinese battlefield was like a shot in the arm, allowing the Japanese people to see that although the navy was not practical, they still had a powerful army.

The Japanese Ministry of War wasted no time in requesting additional funds to purchase more equipment for the army at a military meeting organized by the base camp. The limelight completely overshadowed the Japanese navy, which had lost troops and generals. The army generals were so high-spirited!

However, whether you can pretend to be awesome will ultimately depend on the outcome of the Battle of Hengyang, otherwise it will be like being **** instead of pretending to be awesome.

Under Hengshan Yong's strict order, the 11th Army immediately rushed to Hengyang without resting in Tanzhou City.

The Chinese side is also making final preparations for the Battle of Hengyang.

The one who sent a telegram to General Xue: "The purpose is to prevent the enemy from deepening and secure Hengyang!" He hoped that the 9th Theater District would gather forces to stop the Japanese army from going south to Hengyang and buy enough time for the Hengyang defenders.

At the same time, Fang Xianjue, who was unemployed in the mountain city, also waited for a call from that person!

3 a.m. on May 24th!

Fang Xianjue was woken up by his military secretary, who told him that he was looking for Commander Fang by name.

Fang Xianjue was still dreaming. In the past few days, he had been watching various telegrams from Hunan Province about the unfavorable war situation in the Military and Political Department. This was simply a kind of torture for a general who was determined to serve the country.

Perhaps since that sleepless night on May 9, Fang Xianjue finally understood what he really wanted in his heart.

He was heartbroken at the sacrifice of his best friend, and was also indignant at the exclusion of dissidents by General Xue, so he became disheartened and wanted to retire. When the order from the Military and Political Department arrived, he was even more dejected. It was only after talking with Tang Dao that he The fighting spirit was reborn.

However, he still did not dare to expect to return to the 10th Army. He was too clear about the importance of General Xue in that heart. Not to mention that he was a confidant, but compared to him, a general who did not belong to the Central Army faction, That's much more important.

For half a month, Fang Xianjue could only sleep for three hours a day. He was extremely worried about his 15,000 brothers who were still in Hengyang.

He knew very well that if the battle situation was as deduced by Tang Dao and him using war chess, Hengyang would definitely become a battleground between the Chinese and Japanese armies, and his 10th Army would definitely stay there or defend the city. , or turn into ashes along with the entire city.

The 10th Army will not retreat without a fight, because they are the 'Taishan Army'!

"Commander Fang, I'm no longer the commander." Fang Xiangjue said impatiently.

"It's that one!" the military secretary could only tell him in a low voice.

Fang Xianjue suddenly woke up and quickly went to the living room to answer the phone.

The person on the other end of the phone spoke with a strong Zhejiang accent: "Is this Fang Xianjue from the 10th Army?"

Fang Xianjue stood at attention and loudly replied: "Sir, I am Fang Xianjue!"

The voice on the other end of the phone was unhurried: "Fang Xianjue, Fang Zishan, because of his personal grudge with the superior, he ignored the justice of the nation. Are you still my student?"

To Fang Xianjue, these words did not sound like a reproach. Instead, they sounded more like a close relationship between the two. Tears flowed out on the spot.

After calming down his excited mood, Fang Xianjue replied loudly: "The students have realized their mistake. As long as the country and the nation need me, I will go through fire and water, and I will never shirk the blame! The students are determined to lead the old troops to fight the Japanese invaders in Hengyang in order to buy time for the main force to assemble." ”

"Okay! It seems that you have not stayed out of the military and political affairs these days. It's good! This battle is related to the overall situation of our war of resistance and the survival of the country and the nation. I hope that all the officers and soldiers of your 10th Army will be able to fight for your safety during the current national crisis. Work hard and encourage everyone to take on important responsibilities and live up to my expectations for the 10th Army.

If you have any requirements, you can ask me now! "The voice on the phone spoke earnestly.

"Please rest assured, sir, the 10th Army will fight the Japanese invaders to the death at any cost!" Fang Xianjue replied loudly. After a slight hesitation, he whispered: "It's just that our 10th Army currently has only 15,000 troops, which is insufficient. , I want to ask a friendly force to help!"

"You said, as long as I have it, I, as a teacher, will be satisfied!"

"Four Elements Group!" Fang Xianjue was a little worried.

There was silence on the other end of the phone for ten seconds, and the voice became a little deeper.

"allow!"

"Yes!" Fang Xiangjue was very happy.

It's just that he couldn't see the suddenly gloomy face of the man in the quiet little hall more than ten kilometers away.

Tang Dao and Si Xing Tuan were like a thorn in his flesh. Whenever he thought of them, he couldn't help but feel a little pain.

But now, he can only bear this breath for the time being, because there are only Fang Xianjue and the 10th Army and Tang Dao and his Four Elements Regiment in Hengyang.

Hengshan Yong, who was about to enter Tanzhou City and start loading cups, may not have expected that he would soon face tough old opponents and equally tough new opponents. Two Chinese tough commanders were about to lead 20,000 tough guys and the 11th Army to fight in Hengyang. A brutal battle that shocked the world and made ghosts and gods cry!